Method of printing and folding a mailing piece

ABSTRACT

The method of printing and folding a mailing piece including the steps of running a continuous paper web, printing desired information on the web, selectively feeding insertion envelopes with previously glued tabs onto said web at one side thereof in spaced relationship, adding an axially aligned strip of glue to the other side of the said web, transversely perforating the said web intermediate the said affixed envelopes, transversely cutting the said web immediately adjacent the said perforation, rotating the said cut web portions to a folder utilizing the said perforations, transporting the said cut and folded web sections to a final folder and trimming the edges to thereby provide a finished mailing piece having a glued tab envelope inserted therein.

United States Patent Mario Kalman Philadelphia, Pa. 8 l3 ,8 92

Apr. 7, 1969 May 25, 1971 Goodway Inc. Philadelphia, Pa.

[72] Inventor [21 Appl. No. [22] Filed [45] Patented [73] Assignee [54] METHOD OF PRINTING AND FOLDING A MAILING PIECE 5 Claims, 8 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl 53/23, 53/50, 53/157, 93/35, 93/36, 93/58, 93/61, 270/51 511 int. Cl ..B65b 63/04, 1331b 1/16, B31b 1/72 [50] Field of Search 93/1 (G),

35 (PCO), 36 (MM), 58 (.6), 61 (A), 63 (M), 84

(CLL), 23; 53/50, 157; 270/5l,55

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,059,391 10/1962 Volks 270/55X 3,255,679 6/1966 Eckels 93/1 (Gl 3,382,778 5/1968 Berkowitz 93/63(M) 3,405,501 10/1968 Edelberg 93/1(G) 3,424,636 1/1969 Brody 93/1(G) 3,442,185 5/1969 Buescher 93/63(M) 3,465,354 9/1969 Timms 93/61(A) 3,479,802 1 1/1969 Fesco 93/35(PCO) 2,789,640 4/1957 Belden 53/23 Primary ExaminerWayne A. Morse, Jr. Attorney Karl L. Spivak ABSTRACT: The method of printing and folding a mailing piece including the steps of running a continuous paper web, printing desired information on the web, selectively feeding insertion envelopes with previously glued tabs onto said web at one side thereof in spaced relationship, adding an axially aligned strip of glue to the other side of the said web, transversely perforating the said web intermediate the said affixed envelopes, transversely cutting the said web immediately adjacent the said perforation, rotating the said out web portions to a folder utilizing the said perforations, transporting the said out and folded web sections to a final folder and trimming the edges to thereby provide a finished mailing piece having a glued tab envelope inserted therein.

PATENTEU "M25 I97! SHEET 1 BF 2 INVENTOR MARIO KALMAN ATTORNEY PATENTEI] mzsmn 579-847 sum 2 or 2 INVENTOR. F|G- 6 MARIO KALMAN ATTORNEX METHOD OF PRINTING AND FOLDING A MAILING PIECE This invention relates in general to the printing art, and more particularly, is directed to mass producing a multipage mailing piece having a return envelope removably affixed therein.

The present invention teaches an extremely rapid, automatic, inexpensive and positive method of preparing a multipage mailing piece in finished form and having contained therein, a removable return envelope.

Prior workers in the art have developed processes and machinery to affix a return card to a mailing piece by applying a glued tab automatically to previously cut and printed material. However, no prior art machine or method has yet been developed wherein it was possible to print upon a continuous web and continuously apply a return card or return envelope without slowing down the procas to accommodate cutting and folding operations. The present method teaches a completely automatic, self-contained and extremely rapid method of employing gluing, inserting, folding and cutting techniques to a continuous web continuously without requirin g any slowdown or change of pace to accommodate the various operations required to produce a finished mailing piece.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved method of preparing a mailing piece of the type set forth.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel method of printing and folding a mailing piece having a removable insert rapidly from a continuous printed web without slowdown or interruption.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel method of printing and folding a mailing piece from a continuous printed web including automatic steps of affixing a mailing piece by glue to one side of the said web and then transversely perforating, cutting, folding, as necessary to rapidly and efficiently produce a finished multipage mailing piece.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel method of printing and folding a mailing piece that is continuous in operation, rapid in production, and trouble free upon use.

Other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention will be had by referring to the following description and claims of a preferred embodiment thereof, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views and in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of the equipment and flow in accordance with the present method.

FIG. 2 is a detailed view of the glued insert, looking from Line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an elevational view of the web with the envelopes affixed and the transverse perforations punched.

FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along Line 4-4 of FIG. I, looking in the direction of the arrows, showing the operation of the final folder.

FIG. 5 illustrates the web after the return envelopes have been applied and the web has been folded one time.

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the finished mailing piece.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the finished mailing piece after it has been trimmed.

FIG. 8 is a detailed view looking from Line 8-8 of FIG. I, showing glue applied to the continuous web.

Although specific terms areused in the following description for the sake of clarity, these terms are intended to refer only to the particular structure of my invention selected for illustration in the drawings, and are not intended to define or limit the scope of the invention.

Referring now to the drawings, I show a continuous web of previously printed paper 10 being continuously fed from the printer 12. The web I0 turns about the former board I4 and enters the nip of the former rollers 16, I8 which serve to continuously propel the web forwardly for the gluing, folding, and cutting operations hereinafter more fully set forth.

A roll of edge-perforated return envelopes 20 feeds into the process through the positioning rollers 22, 24 to the pin drive roller 26 utilizing the tension arm 58 to maintain adequate web tension. The pin drive roller 26 engages the envelopes 38 at the strip 32 and serves to separate the roll 20 into individual return envelopes 28 which feed to the web I0 at precisely spaced intervals by action the envelope feed chute 30. As best seen in FIG. 2, the roll of envelopes 20 is provided at one longitudinal edge thereof with a continuous, perforated pin feeding strip 32 which is defined from the individual envelopes 28 by the die cut continuous perforation 34 which serves to per mit easy removal of the return envelope from the finished product in well-known manner. A glue station 36 continuously applies glue to the pin feeding strip 32 as the return envelope web 38 passes the glue station 36 under impetus of the pin drive roller 26. The roller 26 includes a plurality of radially projecting pins 40 for insertion within the openings 42 which are provided in the pin feeding strip 32 for envelope feeding purposes.

The envelope chute 30 introduces the envelopes 28 to the nip of the rollers 22, 24 at precisely spaced intervals for affixing to the continuous web I0 along the previously glued pin feeding strip 32. It will be observed that the glued surface of the strip 32 faces outwardly from the pin feed roller 26 and upwardly from the chute 30 so that the glued surface contacts no portion of the apparatus until the glued surfaces presses against the first surface 48 of the web I0. The nipper rollers 22, 24 serve to assure a perfect bond between the glued strip 32 and the first surface 48 so that the envelopes 28 becomes firmly affixed to the web surface 48 at spaced intervals to thereby prevent accidental detachment during the cutting and folding operations hereinafter described.

The perforator rollers 50, S2 propel the paper web I0 and the glue affixed, spaced, return envelopes 28 past the web glue station 60 and through the female and male cross perforation cylinders 54, 56 which are respectively provided with a plurality of transverse recesses 62 and cooperating pins 64 which function to transversely perforate the web at spaced intervals by rotatively punching a plurality of web-piercing holes 66 as the web travels past. The web glue station 60 continuously applies a stripe of glue 68 to the underside 70 of the web 10 as it is urged past the glue station 60. The stripe of glue 68 is continuously applied along the longitudinal axis of the web 10 to thereby attach adjacent cut sheets at the tucker cylinders 74, 75.

After transverse perforation at the cooperating cylinders 54, 56, the web 10 passes between the knife cylinder 72 and the pin and tucker cylinder 74 wherein the pins 76 pull the web about the cylinder 74 by inserting within the previously punched transverse perforations 66. The diametrically opposed knives 78, 80, which are rotatively held in the knife cylinder 72 cooperate with the recesses 79 to transversely cut the web immediately adjacent each row of perforations to thereby separate the web into a plurality of pairs of individual sheets 82. The pin and tucker cylinder 74 and the jaw and tucker cylinder 75 rotate the affixed sheets 82 and in coopera tion with the tuckers 90, 92 and the respective cooperating jaws 86, 88 nip the individual sheets 82 at the respective midpoints thereof and transversely fold the sheets to form a folded edge 104 so that the respective stripes of glue 68 align over one another to thereby secure the folded underside 70 of the sheets together in folded position. See FIG. 5. The jaw and tucking cylinder 75 feeds the folded and glued sheets 82 individually to the delivery conveyors 96, 97 which turn about the power rollers I10, 112. The conveyors 96, 97 in turn deliver the sheets to the chopper blade 98 which functions to longitudinally fold the individual sheets 82 about their longitudinal axis in cooperation with the notch I16 which is provided in the platen table I14. The envelope 28 is inwardly positioned and bent at the perforation 34.

The chopper blade in turn directs the glued and twice folded sheets 82 to the trimmers l00, 102 wherein the perforated edge I06 and the transversely folded edge 104 are trimmed in well-known manner to thereby provide the finished mailing piece. See FIGS. 6 and 7.

As best seen in FIG. 3, the web 10 is divided into a plurality of sheets 82 which are defined by the transverse perforations 66. Each sheet 82 is subdivided into a plurality of pages A, B, C and D which comprise the finished mailing piece 108. As may best be observed in FIG. 6, page C forms the first and second page of the mailing piece 108, page A forms the third and fourth pages, page B the fifth and sixth pages and page D the seventh and eighth pages. The envelope pin feeding strip 32 securely affixes to page A immediately adjacent the longitudinal axis 95 throughout the entire perforating, cutting and folding operations thereby securing the envelope 28 interiorly of the finished product 108.

Although I have described my invention with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure has been made only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

1 claim:

1. The method of printing and folding a mailing piece comprising the steps of A. running a continuous web of paper having a longitudinal axis and a first surface and a second surface,

B. afi'ixing a plurality of return envelopes in spaced intervals upon the said first surface of the web, l said envelopes having glue applied upon a strip which is detachable from the envelope along a previously perforated line;

C. transversely perforating the web adjacent one end of each said web-affixed envelope;

D. applying a stripe of glue upon the said second web surface;

E. transversely cutting the said web adjacent the said trans verse perforations and rotating the cut web sections to a folder by utilim'ng the said perforations;

F. transversely folding the said cut web sections at the mid point thereof to form single folded sections having a said envelope externally afiixed thereto;

0. folding the said single folded section a second time along the longitudinal axis thereof,

1 said envelope being folded inwardly within the double folded section; and

H. trimming the said double folded section at the top and bottom thereof to remove the said perforations and the said first transverse fold.

2. The invention of claim 1 wherein the said perforated line between the envelope and its glued strip is aligned over the said longitudinal axis of the said web.

3. The invention of claim 1 wherein the said stripe of glue applied to the second web surface is continuously applied.

4. The invention of claim 1 wherein the said stripe of glue applied to the second web surface is continuously applied, and wherein the said glue stripe is applied over the said longitudinal axis.

5. The invention of claim 1 and the step of gluing the said single folded sections together along the said stripe of glue applied to the second web surface. 

1. The method of printing and folding a mailing piece comprising the steps of A. running a continuous web of paper having a longitudinal axis and a first surface and a second surface, B. affixing a plurality of return envelopes in spaced intervals upon the said first surface of the web,
 1. said envelopes having glue applied upon a strip which is detachable from the envelope along a previously perforated line; C. transversely perforating the web adjacent one end of each said web-affixed envelope; D. applying a stripe of glue upon the said second web surface; E. transversely cutting the said web adjacent the said transverse perforations and rotating the cut web sections to a folder by utilizing the said perforations; F. transversely folding the said cut web sections at the midpoint thereof to form single folded sections having a said envelope externally affixed thereto; G. folding the said single folded section a second time along the longitudinal Axis thereof, 1 said envelope being folded inwardly within the double folded section; and H. trimming the said double folded section at the top and bottom thereof to remove the said perforations and the said first transverse fold.
 2. The invention of claim 1 wherein the said perforated line between the envelope and its glued strip is aligned over the said longitudinal axis of the said web.
 3. The invention of claim 1 wherein the said stripe of glue applied to the second web surface is continuously applied.
 4. The invention of claim 1 wherein the said stripe of glue applied to the second web surface is continuously applied, and wherein the said glue stripe is applied over the said longitudinal axis.
 5. The invention of claim 1 and the step of gluing the said single folded sections together along the said stripe of glue applied to the second web surface. 